Hey everybody. Today's episode is an interview with U.S. Congressman Rick Larson from the state of

Washington. He is on to talk about preparations for the World Cup next summer. A lot of discussion of the

border and the challenges that travelers may face getting visas and going back and forth between

Canada and the U.S., which is going to be

particularly irrelevant in the Northwest because there are several games each in Vancouver and

Seattle.

So hopefully enjoy that interview.

If you would like the Monday review, which is going to be with Waki and Vince and me, join

the Patreon.

That is going to be a patron-only episode this week, as it sometimes is.

All right, here's the interview with Rick Larson.

Welcome to the Scuff podcast, where we talk about U.S. soccer.

Yeah. about U.S. soccer. Our guest today was a ballboy for the Seattle Sounders when they played in the NASL.

He was a central defender for the Arlington High School Eagles just off the Puget Sound,

and now he's a member of Congress and co-chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus

that's getting ready for the 2026 World Cup. Representative Rick Larson, welcome to scuffed.

Thanks a lot. I appreciate being on.

How would you describe your style of play as a centerback? Were you a ball playing centerback?

A cruncher? More of a cruncher. I was, so from the age of eight till about 13, 14, I was actually a striker for club teams out of our town.

And Arlington is about 20 miles north of Seattle.

And it was about as far north as you could get where there was an active soccer teams, you know, from first grade up until

high school age. And that was in the mid-70s. It is since, of course, expanded. We were the

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